Col. Rodgers Hopeful

About Returning From Iraq Soon

By John Voket

This is the third part of an ongoing feature updating the activities of Newtown Legislative Council Chairman Will Rodgers, who is currently serving as a military liaison officer in Iraq.

In what may be his final series of dispatches from Iraq, Colonel Will Rodgers recapped some of his adventures and activities of the past month. While there was no specific information signaling an impending return, his request to convey thanks to all for their packages, notes and prayers seemed a strong indicator along with the postscript: “…it’s probably too late to send further stuff.”

The Marine Reservist departed the US on August 14, 2006, volunteering to serve in place of other officers who have younger children. In a correspondence dated February 19, Col Rodgers wrote that the holidays were good. 

“Civilians started streaming out of here in mid-December, returning mid-January,” Col Rodgers wrote. “At our compound we were down to about 20 percent of normal strength. We banded together and had an OK time. There was a Christmas concert at the Palace, featuring bagpipers playing carols. We had a party Christmas Eve, a number of activities during the day on Christmas, and a progressive supper among several houses.

“I did have a number of presents from friends and family to open. I was pleased to be a part of two small Christmas cheer stories. First, a female Captain from my unit, and her interpreter, came into the IZ on business, but then were stuck for six days due to a combination of holiday, poor weather and (problematic) air schedules. This was not the worst thing in the world for these two, as they serve in an extremely dangerous locale and were frankly quite battle weary the Captain, for instance, having packed the personal belongings of a friend, the highest ranking female military officer killed in action thus far, after her death,” Col Rodgers continued. 

“Those here at our compound were very supportive, including them in all the holiday festivities – I sent them back to their unit with a big double care package from Newtown Car Wash. Separately, one of the civilian workers here has a son serving as a Marine Corporal in a unit nearby, and I was able to arrange for son to be flown in to meet with his Dad over the holidays. New Year’s Eve featured a party at our dining facility; the only thing that was missing was a TV set tuned to the Time Square ball drop as of course we are eight hours ahead.” 

Workwise, Col Rodgers indicated things were getting more intense as two of the assistance programs he had been closely involved with for several months were rolling out in his unit’s area. 

“There have been some hiccups in the process because the various contractors and non-governmental organizations that perform these assistance tasks are used to dealing with the Army, and suffice it to say we Marines are a very different kettle of fish,” the Colonel wrote. “At many junctures I am the bridge between the organizations, in fact that is the very essence of my job, and consequently both sides can direct their frustration at me. Not much different than being an Appellate Judge in the military, my normal reserve billet, a practicing attorney, or Chair of the Legislative Council!”

Travel And Diplomacy

Col Rodgers explained that the current phase of his duties had him doing a fair amount of traveling, mostly internally, but around the Mideast region as well – “…five countries thus far.”

“One such trip took me to a decidedly wealthy, decidedly western country in the second week of January,” he wrote. “The broad purpose of the trip was to bring together Iraqi businessmen with their Arab counterparts, both to develop some business and to perhaps more importantly give the Iraqis a sense of what their country could be like if they sort out their problems.  The trip was very successful in both senses. There was very little time to absorb the culture on this trip, but I did manage to scoot out during one break and a funny visual sticks in my mind: at an indoor mall connected to the meeting site I happened across a lingerie shop with a fairly racy Valentine’s Day display of wares in the window. 

“Juxtaposed to that, within the shop sat the sales clerk in traditional Muslim dress!” Col Rodgers wrote.

“Violence ebbs and flows around here,” he continued. “A couple of days ago I handed a buddy his cell phone (most in my field carry two cell phones – American and Iraqi networks) and a radio, which he’d left at my place the night before. In exchange, he handed me a bullet round that had landed on his doorstep after hitting his door overnight!

“In general, however, things have been more quiet after [Saddam Hussein’s] execution and over the holidays than they were before. We are in the very midst of ‘surge’ activities, however, so very recently things have been quite active. Last night featured a first, tracer rounds arcing above us. Most mortars come in the early morning, something of an IZ alarm clock,” Col Rodgers wrote.

After nearly five months in country, Col Rodgers seemed to have developed an immunity to the everyday violence that surrounded him and his unit. By January 30, he relayed another letter.

“Lots of mortar and rocket attacks this past week,” he wrote. “I was at a meeting in the Palace sitting with another officer, who was in from the field, on a small couch near a window when a mortar landed so close by that the aluminum window moldings fell out with a clatter. I turned to my right to look at my friend on the couch and the cushion was empty. I peered around the corner and he was already 30 yards down the hall! He was apparently not as used to the ‘incoming’ as we are here!

“My last trip out of country was unremarkable but for the fact that I encountered significant, plowable snow (and yes, I was within the Mideast, not off to Switzerland!). Travel around here is very lengthy due to the security concerns; it customarily takes two days for Marines from a point about as far away as Waterbury is from Newtown to get to me, or me to them. Indeed, when I returned from my most recent trip there was one final indignity: my home compound was sealed off due to a nearby mortar impact so I had to kill an hour or so until it reopened. No big deal, except when you consider ten hours straight travel time preceded that!

“Helicopter attacks have increased, with five downed helos recently,” Col Rodgers wrote. “Several times recently helos I’ve been on have shot off countermeasures in flight, never a comforting sensation.”

Col Rodgers concluded his January 30 note saying: “I have a couple of projects that require some last efforts but by midweek this week my focus will be on turnover and out-processing. Looking forward to smaller scale budgetary battles. While Newtown’s [budget proposal] may have just topped $100 million, many discussions here utilize that amount as a multiplier!”